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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24690910">stars hung upside down</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/HearJessRoar/pseuds/HearJessRoar'>HearJessRoar</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Camp Bright Moon Interludes [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Dancing, Drinking, F/M, Making Out, dancing badly, part of the camp bright moon verse, this is a seamista fic but all canon couples get a mention this is my way of warning u</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-06-13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-06-13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 10:34:17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,012</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24690910</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/HearJessRoar/pseuds/HearJessRoar</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Hanging out at the local bar with Sea Hawk's coworkers isn't like, the <em>worst</em> way Mermista could be spending her Saturday night.</p><p>Neither is putting her hands all over Sea Hawk, come to think of it.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Adora/Catra (She-Ra), Bow/Glimmer (She-Ra), Entrapta/Hordak (She-Ra), Mermista/Sea Hawk (She-Ra), Perfuma/Scorpia (She-Ra)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Camp Bright Moon Interludes [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1770541</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>170</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>stars hung upside down</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Mermista was going to lose it.</p><p>The fire snapped and crackled cheerfully, grey plumes of smoke wisping away to the starry July sky. On her one side, Sea Hawk; on the other, Sea Hawk's (adorable) boss. She had only officially met Glimmer earlier that night, and she had already decided she would be willing to die for this sparkly, rage-fuelled woman.</p><p>Bow strummed up another ditty and Mermista scrunched her eyes shut. The log she was sitting on was biting into the backs of her thighs and she didn't think she could take any more campfire songs.</p><p>"<em>Oh I'm a happy camper, I love the summer sun-"</em></p><p>And they were all so <em>cheerful</em> about it. Mermista thought that if she had been in charge of several dozen teenagers for two weeks, she would have sworn off camp songs for her night off.</p><p>Not so for the Camp Bright Moon counselors.</p><p>Bow held up his hands and everyone quieted. "Alright, we've got one more and then everyone who is <em>legal</em>," he gave a sharp look to Frosta, who Mermista understood was a Junior Counselor in Training, whatever that meant. "is off to <em>Seaworthy</em> for the other part of Campfire Night." Frosta rolled her eyes. Mermista understood the sentiment.</p><p>"Now, this is a repeat after me song…"</p><p>Five minutes and one chant about a dead moose later, she found herself crammed into the backseat of Glimmer's dark purple Impala. Beside her, Pefuma had crawled in, with Scorpia and Adora trying to figure out how to rearrange their limbs to accommodate each other. When all was said and done, Perfuma ended up settled on Scorpia's lap, blushing but clearly thrilled with Scorpia’s arms wrapped around her waist.</p><p>Mermista couldn’t blame her; Scorpia had some real nice arms.</p><p>And just as she thought they might get going, her door opened and she nearly tilted out onto the gravel. Sea Hawk peered down at her, seemed to judge the space remaining in the backseat, and paused.</p><p>"Absolutely not," she snapped, knowing exactly what he was thinking about doing. For once, he listened to her, and closed the door.</p><p>She gave him too much credit though. Almost immediately, the passenger door opened with an ominous click.</p><p>"Bow, my wonderful friend, can I perchance share your space?"</p><p>Bow smacked his thighs with both hands. "Get in here!"</p><p>Sea Hawk did so, perching on Bow's lap with the archer holding him firmly in place.</p><p>Mermista ground her teeth. Whenever Bow and Sea Hawk were in the same vicinity, their brain cells seemed to cancel each other out specifically to annoy her. She’d taken to forbidding them from being in the Shack at the same time, ever since they had tried to make instant noodles in her employee microwave.</p><p>Glimmer side eyed the pair of them.</p><p>"If you dump me for Sea Hawk, you're both fired," She muttered, twisting the key into the ignition. Sea Hawk blew her a kiss and Mermista reached up to flick him in the back of the head.</p><p>~</p><p>A ten minute drive had never felt like it lasted an hour before, but with Scorpia's elbow digging into her hip and her right arm pressed uncomfortably against the door, Mermista was starting to wonder if time stopped working in hell.</p><p>~</p><p>When they all spilled out like so many clowns from a clown car, Catra was waiting for them outside the bar. She was leaned up against her motorcycle, washed with the neon glow from the bar signs in the window, and Mermista privately agreed when Adora murmured "Holy shit, my girlfriend is <em>hot,"</em></p><p>She didn't voice it out of respect for Scorpia, who to her credit was far too concerned with fixing Perfuma's hair tie to care about Catra.</p><p>Bow and Sea Hawk were already far ahead of them, singing along with the jukebox playing an old country song so loud the bass could be heard pounding outside the building. They both held open one side of the double doors, and Bow bowed like a total dork as Glimmer passed by him. Mermista reached out for Sea Hawk's hand as she entered, yanking him through behind her and letting the door swing shut on Adora.</p><p>"Rude," she called, but there was no malice in it.</p><p>A furious waving from the corner told them that Entrapta had beaten them there, and saved them all a table. Skulking next to her was her boyfriend-but-may-as-well-be-her-husband, Hordak. Mermista understood that when Camp Bright Moon had acquired the bankrupt science camp across the lake, Entrapta and Hordak were part of the deal as the previous owners and directors of said camp. She had seen Entrapta around for years; it was hard to forget someone who only bought the tubes of miniature donuts. The day the Shack stopped carrying them was a day Mermista feared.</p><p>Now they ran the rebranded science branch of Camp Bright Moon, and neither seemed to care much that they were under new management. Hardly a summer had passed since Mermista had started at the marina without some sort of minor explosion, and so far this summer was no different.</p><p>She wasn't terribly fond of Hordak; he had a nasty habit of letting his experiments get out of control and had set the dock of the marina on fire not once, but twice. There was a <em>reason</em> the camp went bankrupt.</p><p>Entrapta, though, she liked just fine.</p><p>The tiny feral woman could pound back shots like nobody's business, and she fixed the shake machine at the Shack for free.</p><p>Granted, she was the one who had broken it in the first place, but details, honestly.</p><p>Sea Hawk broke away, following Perfuma to the bar to order drinks as Mermista slid into a chair next to Scorpia. <em>Seaworthy</em> was a stupid name for a bar, in Mermista’s opinion. They weren’t anywhere near the sea, not really. And the theming didn't even come across coherently, since the locals given free run of the jukebox usually played old country and blues. But she’d been there plenty of times before, and the drinks were strong, the music was loud, and there was usually someone pretty to look at.</p><p>Speaking of.</p><p>Mermista bit her lip, eyeing up Sea Hawk at the bar appreciatively. </p><p>All the counselors wore their street clothes for their celebration of another two weeks well counseled, or whatever they called it. He was actually wearing jeans tonight, instead of his ridiculous uniform shorts. </p><p>And Sea Hawk had legs for <em>days.</em></p><p>She was admittedly very glad that he had given her a heads up when he had invited her this afternoon. Showing up in her marina uniform when everyone else was dressed casually would have made a bad night worse.</p><p>And the look on Sea Hawk's face when he'd picked her up and seen her cropped tank and distressed shorts combo? </p><p>Priceless.</p><p>Speak of the devil. He set down an electric blue drink in front of her, dropping dramatically into his own chair. The blood orange cocktail in his hand sloshed dangerously and Mermista reached out for it before he could dump it down his front.</p><p>She took a sip of his drink first and Sea Hawk didn't object. Licking at the errant drops left on her bottom lip and considering the vague sting in her nose, she said, "Rum Runner?" With the music as poundingly loud as it was, she practically had to put her mouth to the shell of his ear to be heard.</p><p>That was her excuse, anyway.</p><p>Sea Hawk nodded and she handed it back, tapping her fingernail on her own glass questioningly.</p><p>"Sex on the Driveway," he called it. Mermista gave him a wry look.</p><p>"Maybe later," she said offhandedly, bringing the rim to her lips to take a sip. It was good; orange and peachy with a faint vodka burn at the back of her throat.</p><p>Sea Hawk didn't even double take at her joke, which was disappointing; she was hoping to catch him off guard enough to snort that Rum Runner up his nose.</p><p> </p><p>~</p><p>She was nursing her third glass when Sea Hawk asked her to dance.</p><p>Mermista shook her head before she could even really consider it. Sea Hawk pouted, looking dejected, and a knot of guilt twisted in her stomach. She fiddled with the cocktail straw in her drink.</p><p>"Let me finish this?" she compromised, and Sea Hawk lit back up. Glad he was mollified, she pointed unsubtly across the table at Adora. The poor woman was trying unsuccessfully to pull Catra to the dance floor herself, and looked incredibly sad about it.</p><p>Catra, for her part, had been sipping on plain Coke all night, and was fighting down a charmed smile as her tipsy girlfriend whined about wanting to swing dance.</p><p>"Adora, I don't know how to do that," Catra said patiently, swirling her soda cup with her palm over the top. Like it was a wine glass and she was a femme fatale in an old movie.</p><p>Adora stuck her tongue out at Catra petulantly and let go of her arm, apparently giving up the notion. Sea Hawk took that as enough of an invitation, practically leaping over the table to offer Adora a dance.</p><p>Adora whooped loudly, raised both fists into the air in victory, and let Sea Hawk escort her to the dance space where Glimmer and Bow were already failing miserably trying to pretzel.</p><p>At least they were having fun, Mermista thought as she chewed despondently on her straw.</p><p>Adora was a bit of a lightweight, which lent itself well to country swing dance since it meant she was pliant and spinnable. Sea Hawk twirled her through the steps, making Adora look much more skilled than she was, blonde ponytail whipping erratically.</p><p>Scorpia leant over to talk to her, breath heavy with the strong whiskey Perfuma had ordered for her, asking if she was gonna need a ride home after. Entrapta had already offered up Hordak's beloved vintage Camaro to drive both Scorpia and Perfuma home. Not for the first time was Mermista befuddled by the things Entrapta could get away with; if someone threw up in that 1976 Chevy, she was pretty sure Hordak would cry.</p><p>She declined the offer. Glimmer had declared herself designated driver earlier and committed to taking everyone who needed to back home safely.</p><p>Adora was going to go home with Catra on her bike, and if Scorpia went with Perfuma in Hordak's car, by Mermista's count that left her, Sea Hawk, and Bow in Glimmer's.</p><p>She smirked wickedly around her straw.</p><p>An entire backseat to themselves for fifteen whole minutes. The things they could annoy Glimmer with given those variables...</p><p>She heard laughter from the dance floor and looked back over. Apparently, in the time she had been distracted, Sea Hawk and Glimmer had switched partners.</p><p>Adora looked put out to have lost her partner, since Glimmer was far too short to spin her, but at least Glimmer was highly entertained.</p><p>She had to admit, Bow was following Sea Hawk's lead flawlessly.</p><p>~</p><p>As the world tilted and she gripped both hands on the back of her chair, she wondered why it was she never realized just how tipsy she'd really gotten until she stood up.</p><p>Whatever.</p><p>She met him halfway across the room. Sea Hawk's big goofy grin as she wrapped her arms around his waist betrayed that he was just as buzzed as she was. Mermista made a mental note to get them both a glass of water before they left.</p><p>Leaning into him and breathing deeply, because Sea Hawk always smelled like wood smoke for reasons he wouldn't admit to her, and some spicy unidentifiable scent she just called <em>boy,</em> and it was reassuring.</p><p>"I'll dance now, or whatever," she said, slightly muffled. "Do <em>not</em> swing me, though."</p><p>The old wooden bar floor creaked underfoot as they found a space next to Adora, who had now roped Scorpia into being her slightly clumsy partner. </p><p>Mermista wondered how Catra felt about her girlfriend dancing with her ex, and then wondered how Scorpia felt about dancing with her ex's girlfriend.</p><p>But judging by how Scorpia was smiling as Adora stepped on her feet, they were all well on their way to total reconciliation, <em>thank god.</em> </p><p>The weeks where Scorpia would hide in the employee bathroom when either of them came into the Shack had started to wear real thin on Mermista's nerves before Scorpia had met Perfuma.</p><p>Adora won people over like that, though; it was practically her superpower, and it was hard to dislike her for long. Mermista would have had a hard time saying no if she’d asked her to dance, and she had to be three drinks in to cope with the mortifying ordeal of being observed just to dance with her own boyfriend in public.</p><p>
  <em>…Boyfriend.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Huh.</em>
</p><p>Guess that <em>was</em> what he was now.</p><p>She really liked the sound of that, actually.</p><p>Sea Hawk spun her out away from him, testing what she was comfortable with. He led her through what was probably the most basic two-step he had ever done, but she didn't really care. Mermista had never bothered truly learning to dance to this sort of music before she had met Sea Hawk, but she could hold her own just fine.</p><p>And besides, it meant he had to keep holding onto her to stay on beat. The bare skin between the hem of her shirt and the waistband of her shorts practically lit up electric every time his fingers brushed against her to guide her next move.</p><p>She'd pull her own teeth out before admitting that she liked it, though.</p><p>~</p><p>Glimmer popped up next to them sometime later, holding two dripping bottles of water, and her car keys.</p><p>And if Mermista let her fingers trail down Sea Hawk's arm as they parted, well then it was a good thing he was somehow really good at deciphering the things she wasn’t saying out loud.</p><p>~</p><p>"If you two don't leave room for Jesus back there, I swear I will run us right off this bridge, so help me-"</p><p>~</p><p>She was never gonna be able to look Glimmer in the eye again after the poor woman witnessed Mermista climbing into Sea Hawk's lap to catch him in a deep kiss while they were still on the road, but as they both stumbled up the three flights of steps to her apartment, she couldn't find it in her to care.</p><p>Locking the door behind her, she jumped right back into it. Sea Hawk didn't seem to mind her fervor, both his hands cupping her face as he kissed her hungrily, pressing her back against the wall. She didn't feel like she was quite in control of her hands, her fingers doing as they pleased roaming up and down his chest. He made a sound as she brushed near his navel and she decided she would very much like to hear it again.</p><p>Rucking up the hem of his soft cotton shirt, Mermista traced her nails lightly along the waistband of his jeans. He groaned into her mouth and Mermista couldn't help her smug grin. It'd been <em>way</em> too long since she'd had anyone this far gone for her.</p><p>He dropped his attentions lower, pressing light, wet kisses to her neck and <em>hello</em> those were <em>teeth.</em></p><p>Mermista brought her hand back up to twine into Sea Hawk's hair. She yanked him back, gently but firmly. "No hickies," she panted. He nodded, pupils blown wide. She still had one hand toying with the button of his fly, and thought she could have asked him to jump out the window with little resistance, the way he was looking at her.</p><p>His hands had migrated to her hips somewhere in between, and his palms felt like they were burning handprints through the fabric of her shorts. Too many layers, she decided abruptly, withdrawing her reach to shuck them off. She made quick work of it, kicking the distressed denim halfway into her living room with one foot and toeing off both sneakers.</p><p>By the time Sea Hawk realized just what she had done, Mermista already had one bare leg hitched over his hip and her arms around his neck. Briefly, she considered that her panties did not match her bra today, and then tossed that thought aside because who gave a single fuck?</p><p>He looked surprised by this new development, but definitely not displeased by it. Mermista pressed in experimentally and <em>oh yes.</em></p><p><em>So</em> not displeased.</p><p>She kissed him again, tugging gently on his bottom lip with her teeth as she pulled away. He practically whined.</p><p>"You have way too many clothes on," she said, dragging her fingers agonizingly slowly back down his chest. She bunched up the fabric in her fist and tugged. He got the hint and reached up to pull his shirt off by the collar. Mermista took a moment to wonder how men did that shit. She'd get stuck in her tee shirt if she tried that.</p><p>He threw the shirt the direction that her shorts had gone, gripping one hand under her thigh to support the leg she had wrapped around him. Her heart skittered as he copied what she had done to him before, tracing the waistband of her underwear. He hooked one finger under the elastic and snapped it lightly, stinging against her skin for just a second. There was scarcely an inch between them but the fact that he could even maneuver between their bodies told her she was too far away.</p><p>"Tease," she whispered, her voice rough.</p><p>He raised an eyebrow at her, though he wasn't in any better shape. But his breathing was not quite ragged yet, and Mermista decided she had better fix that. She pulled her leg away, wrapping a finger around one of his belt loops to tug him towards her couch.</p><p>He didn't have to be back to work until Monday morning, so by Mermista's estimation, they had much to do and too few hours in which to get started.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>am i projecting my yearning to go drinking and dancing again onto fictional characters? MAYBE.</p><p>so much exposition so little time i'm tired of looking at it goodnight</p></blockquote></div></div>
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